AdLib Conference Names 2016 Directors

The Williams School has appointed Jenna Faude ’16 and Natania Greenspan ’16 to serve as directors of this year’s AdLib Conference, which is scheduled to take place Mar. 10-11, 2016.

Faude is a strategic communications major from Sandpoint, Idaho. She spent last summer interning at Rawle Murdy Associates, an integrated branding agency in Charleston, South Carolina. Greenspan is a business administration and art history double-major from Ossining, New York and spent the summer working as a social marketing and digital merchandising intern at Jarden Consumer Solutions in Boca Raton, Florida.

AdLib is a daylong conference that brings alumni who work in advertising, marketing and communications back to campus to network with each other and share trends, best practices and lessons learned with current students. It’s intended to show students that the industry is accessible to liberal arts majors—regardless of major. This year, the conference, which was started by Amanda Bower, the Charles C. Holbrook, Jr. ’72 Professor of Business Administration, will celebrate its fifth anniversary.

“One of W&L’s greatest strengths is our dedicated alumni. The AdLib Conference gives students an opportunity to hear from and meet alums and other professionals who have been successful in a variety of advertising and marketing-related fields,” said Bower. “Students see some of the possibilities, get a better understanding of what they can do to prepare themselves for those careers, and then ultimately navigate their way into jobs themselves,” said Bower.

Both Faude and Greenspan discovered the AdLib Conference by way of Bower’s integrated marketing communications class, affectionately called “AdClass.”

“We went as a class, and I didn’t really understand how important the conference was until I sat through the breakout discussions, panels and talks. It makes a difference hearing from people who work in the field. You learn what it’s really like,” said Greenspan.

From the moment they attended AdLib, both women knew they wanted to get more involved. The conference may take place over the course of 24 hours in March but it’s an event that’s months in the making. There are keynote talks, panel discussions and shorter campaign talks, in addition to meals and an opening and closing reception, to plan.

“I still remember the conversations I had with alumni last year. Those conversations guided me as I made decisions about my summer internship and my senior year,” said Faude.